Jackets End Three Game Slide - Fan Fight in 102

The Jackets curbed a non-winning streak last night, topping the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 4-2. The top line and the energy line each managed two goals, not including another that was unfortunately waved off.

Shelley was on ice a fair number of minutes, though his enforcer role was filled by Boll. A number of times during the game, the 'Hawks wanted to rumble and twice the Jackets obliged. Boll faught Byfuglien in the first period, then Nash went at it with Vandermeer after the final horn had sounded.

Fans Fight in Section 102
The players weren't the only ones looking to fight. Late in the third period, two fans in section 102 started throwing punches. From my vantage point in 217, I could see some pretty good fist-to-face contact. It was several minutes before the ushers and police were able to respond. In the meantime, the brawlers moved between a few rows of seats and the spotlight operator flashed his light on the scene in hopes of drawing attention. With play still going on the ice, few noticed what was happening.

Standings
The Jackets are headed back to St. Louis tomorrow, hopefully to shut out the Blues for the third time this season.

CBJ is 9-6-3 for 21 pts for 2nd in the division. Only 2 points separte the 4th place Predators from the Jackets.

Scoresheet

Can NHL Rookie Patrick Kane stop the Blue Jackets point streak?

The home team is in Chicago tonight to play the Blackhawks. The Jackets are looking to extend their point streak to 7 consecutive games. It will be ht second meeting for the Jackets and 'Hawks, with the first game resulting in a 7-4 win for the Jackets.

Patrick Kane, the first overall pick of the 2007 Draft, is leading the Chicago offense with 17 points. Not yet Crosby-esque, but nothing to shake a stick at either. He's going to need some help to out-gun Nash and crew tonight though.

Khabibulin will likely be in net tonight, and he's looking for a win. The Stanley Cup winning goaltender (Tampa Bay) is sporting a 5-6 record and 3.10 GAA, showing us that he's having a rough start to the season. Lalime is faring a bit better at 2-1, but the 'Bulin Wall' is expected to be the #1 in Chicago for a while longer.

Due to the fact that the Blackhawks also play in the Central Division, this game is critical for the Jackets. They need every win against division teams they can get. Detroit is several games ahead in points and will need a major setback to yield room for another contender to get a shot as the top team in the division. The number two spot is up for grabs this year, however, and the Jackets look the most able to seize it.

Tonight's game will be on FSN for Columbus in HD, as well as on Chicago's local FSN station. It will be the first time ever that the Jackets will play in the United Center in front of not only an in-house Chicago crowd, but a over the airwaves Chicago fan base as well.

Jackets start 1-0 in Central Division

The Blue Jackets put together a great offensive package last night in Chicago, winning the division opener 7-4. The seven goals include two by Nash, two by Novotny and three assists by Peca.

Interestingly, the Jackets still had three players with a -2 rating on the night: Chimera, Malhotra and Boll. It's likely they were playing on the same line together, and were simply no match for the Chicago offense. Norrena still let by 4 goals- all four were scored or assisted by the 2007 draft's first overall pick, Patrick Kane.

Kane may not be getting Ovechkin or Crosby status just yet, but if he keeps scoring like that, anything is possible.

Not soon enough: Blackhawks to get TV Coverage

As mentioned in our Bill Wirtz obituaries, the Blackhawks have not been covered by local television affiliates in years. Bill Wirtz, the team's late owner, chose not to broadcast games to encourage fan attendence.

Since Bill's passing, his son, Rocky Wirtz, has taken ownership of the team is changing media policy. Team representatives are already meeting with Comcast SportsNet to arrange for games to be televised.

The earliest the contract could go into effect is November 11, but until the papers are signed it is difficult to tell. The Jackets are in Chicagoland tonight and will not be televised by FSN, Vs, or any local affiliate. If you want to check out tonight's game, you'll have to do it fireside chat style.

Bill Wirtz, Chicago Blackhawks Owner, Dies at 77

Some Central Division news out of Chicago today as Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz has died.

Wirtz's ownership position was contraversial at best. Fans blame him for many of the team's recent on-ice troubles, as well as questionable decisions regarding media coverage, trades and player contracts. According to Wikipedia, Wirtz is at least partially responsible for the Blackhawks trading or losing Dominik Hasek, Ed Belfour, Chris Chelios, Bobby Hull, Jeremy Roenick and Phil Esposito.

Wirtz is also alledged to have prevented Blackhawks games from being televised locally in hopes of attracting fans to the games. That policy and others are better detailed in this 2004 ESPN The Magazine report which labels the Blackhawks as the 'Worst franchise in sports'.

For fifty years the Blackhawks have been owned by the Wirtz family, and it has been a tumultuous time for the franchise. I don't wish to speak ill of the dead, but perhaps this may be an opportunity for the 'Hawks to right the ship.

Image from Chicagobusiness.com

News About Jason Williams that Does Not Result in a Dead Limo Driver

No sooner had I completed my first post as an author on the Jacket Times, did the NHL's Norris Division continue to sell off their pieces to contenders. The Chicago Blackhawks (no offense, but this is my favorite NHL team, nothing against the Blue Jackets, Ive followed them since their inception into the league but I grew up in Chicago and love Steve Larmer) traded center Bryan Smolinski to Vancouver in exchange for a conditional second round pick (either 07 or 08). Maybe this team does have a plan, as they continue to try an establish a monopoly on the NHL entry draft's second round. While I applaud this move by the Hawks (Smolinski has underachieved this years scoring 14 goals and adding 23 assists for 37 points with 29 penalty minutes and a +10 rating, mostly thanks to Martin Havlat), this move comes with no surprise as GM Dale Talon probably would not bring back Smolinski who is a free agent at season's end. What I don't understand is why Atlanta wouldn't trade for Smolinski, who would fit in perfectly to be that tweener first to second line center that they need (The Thrashers also need goal tending, but another blog for another day).

The Hawks remained busy on Monday by re-acquiring Kyle Calder from Philly, who continues to drop faster than Chris Leak's Wonderlich score (an 8?!). They then turn Calder around and ship him to divisional foe Detroit for young Winger Jason Williams. On receiving the news that he was becoming a Blackhawk, Williams said that he was excited for finally getting a chance to play for an Original 6 team.

Ok, so he isn't the brightest guy on our team, but at least he didn't shoot anybody or refer to himself as "white chocolate". GOOD TIMES!

And just like that, the Preds take two from the Jackets

Ouch.

A rough Friday and Saturday for Jacket fans as the team loses back-to-back games against the Nashville Predators. The Jackets are winless against the 'rival' Preds this season, raising the record between the two to what, 0-4?

I don't like to use injuries as an excuse, but c'mon, the Jackets are a struggling team when they're 110% healthy, and to take out so many of our stars at the same time is rubbing salt in the wound. Regardless, the Jackets should have been a little sharper on the skates and a little more accurate with the sticks. This CBJ squad is starting to fall back into old pre-Hitch habits. I remember what happens when this team gets down on itself and loses game after game... and it's not pretty.

Tonight the Jackets are in Chi-town to face the 'hawks. Chicago has struggled this season as well, but is current riding the central division in 3rd place with 40 pts, 3 ahead of the Jackets. That makes for a CBJ opportunity to take a step up the basement stairs. We may have some of our stars back, so there's definitely a chance.

Happy New Year from The Jacket Times

And we're back, Jacket fans. I apologize for my lack of posts this holiday season. I can come up with excuses all day, but that doesn't accomplish much. Let' s just pick up where we left off.

The Jackets have played 6 games since December 22, the date of the last post. In that time they've gone 3-3. Overall, the Jackets are 9-7 for the month of December. That's a winning record and something to be proud of.

Last night was, of course, the Blue Jackets New Years Eve special. I attended my 3rd(?) NYE game and was not disappointed. The Jackets played solidly, despite taking a couple early penalties that slowed offensive production in the first period. The second began with Columbus down 1-0, but they rallied back quickly to put two behind Khabibulin. The first CBJ goal of the night was phenomenal. On a pass from Nash, Fedorov flew into the slot and one-timed the puck into the net, in an effort quite reminiscent of Bobby Orr's 1970 Stanley Cup winning goal.

The second period also brought one of the most exciting moments in all of sports. Nash was brought down on a breakaway and was awarded with a penalty shot. Nash deked right, then back to the left in hopes of getting it behind Khabibulin's skate. The attempt was unsuccessful though due to a late but pointed poke check- which pretty sums up Nash's night. Despite a couple of breakaways and some great shots, #61 was unable to get one in.

Norrena fought the good fight and got the win, stopping 21 of 22 Blackhawk shots. The one that did get by managed to slip around or between his legs and just trickle in behind him. If Norrena knew where it was, it could have been stopped easily. Unfortunately, he lost sight of it.

Also worth noting, the Jackets had two goals waved off. The first was due to Malhotra getting caught for goaltender interference. The second, a shot from Hainsey at the point, was determined to have deflected off of Nash's hand before hitting the net.

In all, it was a great game that demonstrated a lot of physical play. Big hits were plentiful and there was no shortage of punches to the face either. A great New Year's game.

Jackets win 3-1
34 pts, 4th place in the division, 3pts behind Chicago
Box Score

Photo from CBSsportsline.com (AP)

Five Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

I picked a good time to be out of the Jacket's TV viewing area last week. The Jackets lost two in a row to the Coyotes and Blackhawks.

After handling better teams such as Dallas, Colorado, Edmonton and Ottawa, the Jackets fell behind two of the worst teams in the league. Such is hockey, I suppose.

I had an invite to Saturday's dismal home game vs. Chicago, but had to pass because of being out of town. Normally, I'd be pretty upset about missing an opportunity to cheer on my Jackets from my Graceland, Nationwide Arena. I'm okay with missing it... If I had to witness Norrena letting five goals by in the first period, I probably wouldn't have been able to handle it. I probably would have attempted to slit my wrists with my ticket.

To the Jackets' credit, they did claw their way back and ended it as a two-goal game and no more. Also, Nash hit 100 career goals.

Shake it off, Jacket fans. Sports are very ebb and flow. The Jackets play Detroit twice this week, including at home tonight, then this weekend is Vancouver and the New York Islanders.

10/7/06 vs. Blackhawks

Ah, the first away game of the season. Usually, it is one of those games that us Jackets faithful dread, not only is it an away game, but it's also in October. The best record ever posted by a Blue Jackets squad in october is 3-5-1, coming in 2002. Nevertheless, the team definitely ended strong, with the sting of the OT loss still fresh in the teams's mind from the previous night.

The game started ugly with Adrian Aucoin and Jeff Hamilton putting in two goals on two shots for Chicago. Fortunately, Fredrick Modin woke up the team with two consecutive shots, opening the floodgates and outshooting the Hawks 13-3 in the first period. The game was also knotted up at 2, with Rick Nash and Jaroslav Balastik picking up goals for the CBJ.

The second period brought on another flurry of goal scoring from the Jackets. Manny Malhotra got one by Khabibulin at 11:44 of the period, with Rick Nash tallying his second of the night only a minute later. Duvie Westcott closed out the scoring in the period with a snap shot from close range.

For some reason, it seems as though the Blue Jackets always have issues in the third period. I feel like they always seems to run out of gas. The period was big for the Blackhawks. They went on to outshoot the Jackets 12-2, and score two goals in 25 secongs to bring the game back into Chicago's grasp. Fortunately for Columbus, time was on their side and they managed to pull out a "W" and for now, after 2 games, they sit on top of the central division.

For the Blue Jackets to have a shot at the postseason, they are going to have to start showing up for an entire game. As we saw at home on Friday, they got on the board quick, and then almost as quickly surrendered the lead. Pascal Leclaire was brilliant in net, preventing what could have easily been a 5-2 or 6-2 blowout. The team has the talent to get to the top, it's just a matter of showing it for an entire contest. Leclaire should be able to handle the number 1 job easily, but he needs help from the defensemen. Rick Nash can't carry the offense, and the newly acquired forwards in Frederick Modin and Anson Carter are going to have to get on the board.

Nikolai Zherdev has supposedly made it into town, be on the lookout for him in the lineup on monday, as Geoff Platt has been sent down to Syracuse to make room for Z. Also look for Rusty Klesla who will be back after a two game suspension for a low hit on Tuomo Ruttu during the preseason.

Honorable mentions for the weekend go out to the Washington Capitals for beating the Hurricanes, who are still winless after 3 games. And I also give mention to the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets, who won the franchise opener in OT 3-2. Unfortunately they dropped the second game of the series with the Waterloo Blackhawks 2-1.

Columbus Blue Jackets 5, Chicago Blackhawks 4

Columbus Record: 1-0-1, 3 pts

Box Score